Revenge
by PurpleRain012
Summary: AU: Her boyfriend abuses her in more than one way. She's afraid to leave. Will anyone see what's going on and help her get out before it's too late?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone you may be familiar with, just the plot.**

**Warning: This story is going to involve violence, physical abuse, verbal abuse, mental abuse, profanity, implied rape, among others.**

* * *

Lita Dumas worked carefully on the cuts and bruises she recently suffered at the hands of her boyfriend. She didn't know how she got herself in this mess. He wasn't this bad when they first met and started their relationship a little more than two and a half years ago. He was actually nice, compassionate, and caring towards her. All of that seemed to change once she moved in with him about six months ago. That's when it all went downhill. She thought he loved her like he told her multiple times, but if he loved her even a little, he wouldn't treat her the way he did. He kept her from her friends and family as much as he could so no one could catch on what he was doing to her. But not too much, if he kept her away from them altogether, they were sure to figure out something was wrong. She was only allowed to see her family and friends when he told her. She couldn't believe she had to ask permission from him to be around her loved ones. She was getting sick of it but she couldn't do anything about it.

She was afraid to leave him and tell anyone about what was going on because he threatened her. He threatened to kill her, not only that, he threatened to hurt her family and friends as well. She knew he would go through with the threats, if he could hurt her as bad as he did and claim to love her, no doubt he could hurt those she loved the most.

She finished cleaning the last round of cuts and bruises he left on her wincing a bit since one of the cuts was a bit deep but not deep enough that she had to go to the hospital. He actually held a knife against her throat threatening to slit her throat if she ever pulled something on him again. But instead of leaving a mark on her throat, he cut her arm a bit. Trying to teach her a lesson as he liked to call it. She could never go to the hospital for any of these injuries he caused her. He wouldn't even let her go to the doctors for a normal check up but she found her way. She was really good at covering up her bruises and other injuries he caused her. Only once did the doctor question her about the injuries to which she replied she was clumsy and hurt herself a lot. Her doctor didn't want to believe her but she decided she kind of had to.

The red-head put the first aid kit back into the cabinet in the bathroom and exited hoping and praying her so-called boyfriend wouldn't be home yet. He left not long after he decided it would be a good idea to beat her because he found out she went to her best-friend's house that day without permission when he arrived home before she did. It had been a two weeks since Dawn Marie had been calling Lita and told her she wanted to see her but every time the red-head asked her boyfriend for permission, he said no. He told her she needed to stay at home and cook and clean for him. He was a real sexist pig which only showed when she started to live with him. He forced her to quit her job so she could stay home and take care of all his crap for him. He wanted her to have his baby but she sure as hell wasn't about to have his kid. She wasn't about to bring a kid into this life of hers. It would just be another innocent human who would have to sit back and suffer watching his or her mother be abused by their father and possibly be abused themselves. If she knew he was like that before-hand, she wouldn't allow herself to take this as far as it was going. He didn't know it, but she took birth control. She made sure she would never had his kid. She knew she had a beating coming when she didn't obey him, sometimes, it was worse than that. She shuddered at the thought really hoping he wouldn't do that tonight. Her body was definitely not up for that.

She hoped he would be on call and was needed. Sometimes she found herself hoping and praying a really bad crime would happen just so she didn't have to deal with him. He was after all a police officer so sometimes it was great if he was caught up with a random shooting spree rather than having time to physically and emotionally abuse her. She felt bad thinking that way but she really didn't want to be around him.

_Damn it,_ she thought when she heard the door open. He was back. She made her way into the living room cautiously. He was already there, he smelled like beer. So maybe he wasn't on call tonight. He was careful of not drinking when he knew he could be called for duty at any given time. _Time to put on an act._ "Hi Matt." She tried her hardest for that not to sound forced and fake.

"So are you going to go to Dawn's house again without asking me?"

_Yea, just gonna be more careful. First time out of how many times I actually got caught. _"No." She gave him a fake smile which fortunately for her looked real to him acting like she actually learned a lesson from the crap he pulled tonight.

"Good."

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**Thanks for reading. I hope you guys like the first chapter. It's just an introduction, I guess you can call this the prologue, other chapters will be longer. Tell me what you think, please and thanks. :)**

**Thank you 'my time is now' for helping me with how I can make it better and work. Check out his stories if you haven't already. Pretty great writer.**


	2. Chapter 1

Dawn called Lita last night telling her she wanted to have a small get together with her closest friends for her birthday the next day because it felt like she hadn't seen most of them in a while. The brunette also told the red-head to bring Matt with her as well which she didn't want to do. She also knew he wouldn't want to go nor would he be able to so she didn't bother asking him. She didn't know if she would be able to ask Matt without him getting angry at her since it was only less than a week that she got caught being at Dawn's house without asking for permission.

Matt was home today, it was his day off so she knew she should just ask him now and get it over with. What was the worst that could happen? Oh yea, he could leave some bruises again. "I need to ask you something," Lita said as stopped at the entrance of the living room.

"What?" Matt said not bothering to look up from the game he was watching on the tv.

"Please don't be mad." He finally looked up at her arching a brow. "Um, Dawn called-"

"No," he said not waiting for her to finish turning his attention back to the game, he had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"You know I could just go without asking you for permission. I know you work at night."

"Then why did you ask?" He smirked. "That's right, you don't want a repeat of what happened the other day." She winced when he mentioned what happened, it was actually the worst he did to her... at least so far because he actually used a knife. "You're actually not that dumb."

"Look Matt, if you don't want anyone to catch up on anything, then you should really let me go to Dawn's house. It's her birthday tomorrow, just some close friends getting together. She would know something was wrong if I wasn't there. We always spend our birthdays together except-" She stopped herself. She knew he knew what she was talking about. Her birthday some months ago, Dawn wanted to do something for her but that was a month after Lita had moved in with Matt which was when he started to take control over her life and what she could and couldn't do. He had left a lot of bruises on her that she didn't even know at that time how to cover them up and how to ask Matt to let her leave the house for a couple of hours to see her friends and family without him lashing out on her again. She lied and told Dawn that her boyfriend had plans to take her out for a mini vacation which was far from the truth.

He thought about it for a bit. He knew she made a good point and if she did happen to tell anyone about anything, he knew she wasn't stupid and she didn't want to learn another lesson. But then, he also thought about something else. "Is your little boyfriend going to be there? That's probably why you want to go."

She sighed knowing who he was talking about. "He's not my boyfriend. You are. Unfortunately." She mumbled the last part so he wouldn't hear, fortunately for her, he didn't hear her.

He thought back again about her previous statement about how Dawn would catch on if he didn't let her go. "Well, you do make a good point. You can go. Screw up and tell anyone something and I'll make sure you regret it."

"Like you said, I'm actually not that dumb."

* * *

"Hi!" Dawn beamed opening the door to her house the next day to find a good friend of hers or rather her husbands best-friend at the door.

"Tone down the cheery," he said leaning in to hug the birthday girl. "Happy Birthday," he said handing her a bag.

"Ooooo. Whatcha get me?" She asked looking in the bag but whatever it was was wrapped. "Seriously? You wrapped it and put it in a bag?"

"Looks like it."

"What is it?" She asked once again.

He rolled his eyes following her in the house. "Open it and you'll find out."

"Edge said I have wait." She pouted. "He's such a party pooper."

"And since when do you listen to him?"

"All the time."

He snorted. "Sure."

"Hey John. Nice of you to finally join us." Edge said making his way to where his wife and best-friend were standing when he spotted them. "Trish, Melina, and Stacy are boring the crap out of me with their girl talk. Chris and Christian aren't helping either. The both of them are just sitting there glaring at one another trying not to kill each other." He glanced over at Dawn. "She wanted them here even though she knows they'll probably end up maiming one another."

"They already promised they would behave." She looked down at her watch. "Li is taking her sweet time."

"She said she would come. She'll be here. Calm down."

"I don't like you."

"Then why did you marry me?"

"The money," she answered with a straight face and then started to burst out laughing at the look she received. "Kidding. Gosh. Take a joke sweety. You look so cute when you try to act upset," she said pinching his cheeks.

"Never again."

"You wish." She looked over at John questioning the look on his face. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Aw, is Johnny jealous?"

"Of you two? Never."

"Anyways," Edge said interrupting the two turning his attention to his wife, "Did Li say whether or not Matt was coming?"

"He's not. He has the graveyard shift so she said he was just going to drop her off."

"Why? I thought she had her own car?" John wanted to know.

Dawn shrugged. "She does, it's not working right now. She actually came here by bus the other day."

"The closest bus stop from here is a half hour walk."

"And your point?"

"Nothing. Anyways that boyfriend of hers, I don't like him."

Dawn arched a brow. "You don't even know him." By now Edge left the two to join the other guests even though they were boring him.

"Met him at your wedding, he kept staring at me and Lita the whole time like I was hitting on her or I was gonna steal her. And the other day, got called to a fire the other day, he was their too. He kept giving me dirty looks while I was reporting to him about the fire."

"Well then, he's jealous? I don't know. Anyways, doesn't matter if you like him or not."

"Haven't you noticed the change in her?"

She raised a brow. "Are you a shrink now?"

"She's changed a lot from how she was last year to how she is now."

"Okay stalker."

"She acts reserved now. She wasn't here two months ago when you decided to get everyone together to try to lighten up the tension between Chris and Christian."

"People change." She paused before she spoke up again. "But I know what you mean. Trust me, I asked her if something was wrong and she said she's okay and then just brushes it off. I believe her. If something was wrong she would definitely tell me. But I do think she is going through something right now, but she has Matt. If it was something really serious, she would tell me, so I don't try to push her too much."

John snorted. "That's unlike you."

Dawn stuck her tongue out at him. "Yes, but I don't want to push her much. She has her own life. Times change. We can't always be the same people forever." She heard the doorbell ring. "Oooo! Li's probably here!" She rushed over to the door so she could open it, very happy to see her best-friend on the other side. She took her in for a hug not noting the way the red-head winced from the act. Her back was still a bit sore from the beating the other day. Well, she never really had any healing time between any of the beatings Matt gave her so she was basically in pain all the time.

"Happy Birthday," Lita said handing a bag to the brunette.

"Thanks." Dawn peeked a bit in the bag, saw a box but it wasn't wrapped. She turned over to look at John. "See Cena. Normal people don't wrap a present and then put it in a bag."

He ignored her. "Hi," he said giving a smile to the red-head who he spent a lot of time with over a year ago when they planned Edge and Dawn's engagement party as well as a surprise they had for the two of them at the wedding. The two of them were the best man and the maid of honor after all. They actually got along well but then she started to drift apart from everyone and they just became nothing more than acquaintances.

"Hi," she said trying to smile back but really couldn't. Her back was starting to hurt a bit more after the contact.

"Li! You're finally here!" Edge said grabbing the red-head for a hug and she couldn't help it and winced yet again, this time, John noticed but didn't say anything.

"Yea. Took a while. Sorry about that." _Please no more hugs, _she thought as she followed Dawn and made her way to greet the other few people that were there.

John grabbed Edge's arm before the blonde made his way to the other guests as well. "Did you notice the way she winced when you hugged her? Probably did the same when Dawn hugged her."

"No. Even if she did, not a big deal, she probably hurt herself. She is a klutz." Edge reasoned with him.

"You sure?"

"What are you getting to John?"

"I don't know." Edge gave him a look which told John he thought he was crazy, shook his head and left.

* * *

"I had fun. Thanks Dawn. But I really need to go, it's getting late." The red-head said getting up from where she was seated.

"No," Dawn pouted. "You can't leave. You have to stay the longest."

Lita rolled her eyes. "You know I can't."

That caught John's attention. "Why not?"

"Well," Lita started to say glancing at him, "it's already late, the buses won't stay around waiting just for me."

"I can just drop you off later." Dawn suggested.

Lita shook her head. "No, I'm kind of tired too."

"Come on Li, we don't even hang out much anymore."

"I know, maybe another time."

"Fine," Dawn conceded, "Let me just drop you off."

"No." She once again denied the offer. "You still have Melina and Trish here. You can't just leave them."

"Then I can drop you off." John spoke up. "I was leaving anyways too. Work early."

_Hell no. _"No. I'll be okay."

"Like you said, it's late. You never know who's roaming around in the dark."

_Better than what's roaming around at home most of the time. _"True, but I have pepper spray. I can take care of myself."

"With pepper spray?"

"I know karate." She said which wasn't a lie. She just never used it when defending herself against Matt because she knew what he was capable of and knew it would be worse if she fought back. "All I have to do is one kick in his stomach or somewhere else lower in that region, get him weak, and then kick him again or something."

"That won't be necessary," Dawn said bringing herself back into the conversation, "Li, if you want to leave now and you want to leave without me dropping you off, you're leaving with him." The red-head looked like she was about to argue back. "That's final."

Lita reluctantly nodded. "Fine." She knew Matt wouldn't be home. He had to be at work or at least on his way to work so he wouldn't see that John dropped her off. She knew how he thought John and her had an affair around the time of Dawn and Edge's wedding because they spent some time together helping with the wedding and with the surprise they had for the two. She, along with John, said their goodbyes to everyone and left.

To say the car ride was awkward and quiet would be an understatement. They were already in the car for ten minutes in silence other than the noise coming out of the radio. They still had about another ten minutes give or take depending on any unforeseen circumstances until they arrived at Lita's house. "Can I ask you something?" John asked ending the silence.

Lita looked over at him. "Um, sure."

"Are you okay?"

"Excuse me?" She asked confused.

"You were wincing when Edge hugged you when you arrived and then I saw how you were avoiding any other contact after that."

She looked away not wanting to look at him if he happened to look over for even a second. "I'm a klutz. My back hurts. Big whoop. No big deal."

"Okay, but you're also acting different."

"People change," she responded staring out the window.

"Yea well not like you. You used to be so happy and carefree and always joking around with everyone and now it just looks like you don't want to be around anyone."

She turned to look at him. "Are you stalking me or something?"

"I'm very observant."

"If I didn't want to be around people than why would I be at Dawn's tonight?" She asked turning back to look outside the window yet again.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"You're the observant one."

"I'm not the only one whose noticed the change."

"Oh really?"

"Yea, Dawn said she saw something was wrong with you too but whenever she asked you, you just brush it off."

"If there was something going on with me and I didn't tell my best-friend, what the hell makes you think I would tell you." She said looking at him, not backing down.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

It was quiet again for the rest of the way. John pulled up in front of the house. "Thanks." Lita said looking over at him."

"No problem. Look, I'm sorry if what I said made you upset but like I said, I'm an observant person. Just wanted to make sure you were okay." He thought he would just have to believe that she was okay if she said so, Dawn seemed to think she was okay and if Dawn didn't know anything was wrong with how nosy she could get and how she could get anyone to admit to anything, then there was no way anything was wrong. He just wasn't the type of person to look away if he thought something was wrong without asking.

_Not your responsibility. _She tried smiling at him. "And I am. Thanks." She got out of the car and headed towards the door looking behind her after she unlocked the door waving John goodbye. She let out a breath thinking she had to be more careful around others. She knew Dawn was always worrying about her no matter what but she never knew anyone else would care. Of course her family would and Dawn was her best-friend but John, well, her and John weren't really that close ever. They were only friends because their best-friends were married to one another. She shook the thoughts out of her head as she finally opened the door and entered the house her eyes widening when she saw Matt right in front of her. She hurried trying to get the look off her face. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be at work?" She tried to ask calmly.

"I was actually about to head out right now and then I saw some car lights so I decided to look out," he said getting closer to her until her back was up against the closed door. "You whore. That was Cena's car wasn't it? I knew you were cheating on me."

"I'm not. Even if I was, could you blame me!" She said before she had the chance to stop herself. _Yup, so gonna pay for that one._

He lifted his hand and slapped her hard across her face pulling her close to him and than slamming her back against the door which resulted in her to let out a yelp. "Got anything else to say?"

"Matt please stop." She tried pleading with him.

"So you lied to me so you could fool around with your boy?"

"Matt-" She tried to say before he interrupted her by slapping her again on the same part of her face.

"Shut up! You don't talk! You listen! Is he why you're so resistant when we try to have some fun? Were you with him the other day when you lied and said you were with Dawn? Do you whore yourself out with him? Are you willing to sleep with him?" He grabbed her closer to him again shaking her when she wouldn't say anything trying to get an answer out of her. "Answer me you bitch!" he yelled, his voice getting louder and louder with every word.

"You said I listen and not talk," she whispered. He pushed her back against the door again and pulled her closer to himself and then pushed her so she fell hard on the stairs. She screamed out in pain again, holding her right arm with her left hand since she landed hard on her arm.

"You have quite a mouth on you." He picked her up ignoring how she was screaming in pain when he threw her on her shoulders walking up the stairs heading towards the bedroom. "You're willing to sleep with that punk and he's not even your boyfriend, let's see what you do now." He threw her on the bed jumping now that he was on her.

"No. Please no." She tried to say but it wouldn't come out. She seemed to lose her voice at the moment scared that he was going to force himself on her again. He knew what she was trying to say, not that he cared much.

"Are you tired from screwing your little boy toy today? I don't care."

"Please don't." She said finding her voice again. "I didn't do anything. I promise. You saw me go into her house. I'm not lying."

"She's helping you sneak around. She's a whore just like you." He ripped open the blouse she was wearing ignoring her pleading for him to stop. She started to hit at him and kick him but one punch to her head weakened her even more. She was close, she was so close to blacking out. She knew what was going to happen but at least she wouldn't be conscious for it. She couldn't fight against it anymore, she couldn't fight against him anymore. She closed her eyes hoping and praying this would end with fast, hoping and praying unconsciousness would overtake her.

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**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews.**

******This is so different from what I'm used to writing. **I hope you guys actually like this.

**So I'm planning on Lita having a younger brother or sister which will come in play later on butttt I want to know which would you rather me use, like which would be better? Jeff, Maria, or Christy? Write it in the review section or PM, if you don't care either way, that's totally fine, just ignore me.**


	3. Chapter 2

It had been a week since Matt caught Lita come home with John dropping her off. Matt made a big deal out of it and accused her of having an affair. He was beyond angry with her and expressed it any chance he got. He kept telling her everyday that it was her own fault he was angry at her and she deserved everything he did and said to her. He said she should have known he would find out that she was having an affair. She finally had enough and told him he needed to shut up and just trust her. It was just a simple ride she took from him because Dawn didn't want her to go on the bus late at night. She said unlike him, Dawn actually cared about her and wanted her to get home safe. She said it was his own fault for not letting her drive her car anywhere and she wouldn't have had to come with John if she couldn't drive herself. She couldn't control it anymore when the words left her mouth. She knew she was going to pay big time for standing up for herself and basically telling him off. That's when he grabbed her by the hair and bashed her head against the wall twice which was enough for her to start bleeding. It was actually the first time all week that he physically abused her, it was more of verbal abuse before she spoke up against him. He then threw her one last time on the floor leaving her by herself to tend to the injuries he caused to her as he left.

Lita had enough. She didn't know how much longer she could handle this anymore. She wanted to leave, she really wished she could but she knew she couldn't. Matt threatened her over and over again that if she left, he would go after her family and friends. If she even told one soul about anything at all, he wouldn't hesitate to act on those threats. He said he would start with her younger brother first because he knew how close and over protective she was with Jeff. He even told her he had many options he had of what he could do to Jeff. He said he didn't know if he would simply kill him or just make his life miserable by setting him up for hurt every chance he got; a car accident, ambushing him, setting him up, and some other types of way. She didn't know what she was going to do but she knew she would have to think about something quick. She hated Matt and she hated the type of person he made her to be, he made her feel weak and pathetic. She let him walk all over her. He even made her believe that she actually did deserve all the pain and suffering he put her through. She had to do something and do it fast, she didn't know how much longer she could take this. She just had to think of something that wouldn't have him retaliate by attacking her loved ones.

* * *

"Why do I always have to talk to the cops?" John asked on of his fellow fire fighters, Chris Masters, after they were done putting out a fire and examining the surroundings to help them figure what could have started the fire. He was almost always stuck talking to the police officers and informing them about the details of the fire so they could look into it and determine whether it was accidental or intentional.

Chris shrugged. "You're not the only one. It's always the both of us. I don't know. Guess it's just the way it works. It's like a routine now."

John rolled his eyes. "Damn it. Why the hell is he here? I don't like dealing with him," John complained when he saw who one of the police officers at the scene were.

"What's wrong with him?" Chris asked.

"I don't know what it is but there's something about him. Can't quite put my finger on it." John replied. "Let's go." He walked over with Chris following him to where Matt and another police officer were currently waiting to be informed about the fire.

"Hi-," Chris started to say until he was interrupted by Matt.

"It's about time. We've been waiting for half an hour. You guys took forever."

"Yea well we were too busy putting out a fire," John replied with a bit of annoyance to his tone.

"Would you like to tell us about the fire now that you actually decided it's time for work? You're wasting our time."

"Well," Chris started to explain what they found at the scene of the fire, "we were called to the house by the neighbors because no one was home at the time the fire started. We noticed that the fire started in one of the rooms where a curling iron was plugged in and it was near the curtains. So it looks like the curling iron started the fire. It could have been an accident but it also could have been left plugged in on purpose for insurance money or something. Need any more information?"

"No," Matt's partner replied before he could. "That was basic. All we need to know. It probably was an accident. We can take it from here. Thanks." She left with Matt still staying behind with John and Chris.

John and Chris just looked at one another when they noticed Matt didn't follow his partner, he was too busy glaring at John. "Okay, well then. We have to go. Bye." John said trying to leave until Matt called out to him.

"I want to talk to you." He looked over at Chris. "Alone."

Chris looked at John then left to wait for him when John nodded for him to do so. "What do you want?" John asked impatiently. "I have to get back to the station."

"I just wanted to thank you for dropping off my girlfriend. You didn't have to do that."

"Well, someone had to. You can't just let her walk around herself and take the bus in the middle of the night. Something could have had happened to her. Or do you not care?"

Matt rolled his eyes. "She's my girlfriend. Of course I care."

"Well, then maybe you should have arranged something so she didn't have to go on the bus in the middle of the night."

"Thanks for the concern Cena, but it's none of your business." Matt turned to walk away but then stopped and turned back around looking at John. "She already has a boyfriend so back off."

John was getting a bit annoyed and angry, he knew where Matt was going with this. "Just because I wanted to make sure she got home safe doesn't mean I'm trying to get with her."

"You two spent a lot of time together previously."

"First of all, that was over a year ago. And how does that mean I'm trying to get with her? Our best-friends were getting married to each other, we wanted to do something for them."

"How do I know she's not sneaking behind my back with you? You and her were a little to close for comfort-"

"Friends."

"- at the wedding. And then you dropped her off the other day. How do I know she didn't just use Dawn's place as a way to hook up with you?"

John rolled his eyes. "Someone is insecure. You have trust issues. If you can't trust her, why are you with her? I don't know if she is cheating on your or not, hell, I don't care, that's between the two of you. All I know is she ain't cheating on you with me so stop giving me a dirty look every time I see you. Just leave me the hell alone. Just act like professionals when we see one another. Anyways. I have to go back to work now. Bye." He tried to leave but Matt stopped him by blocking his way.

"Just know one think punk. If I find out you have something going on with her, you will live to regret it."

John snorted. "Is that supposed to scare me? I ain't scared of you. All I did was help someone. You should be thankful I dropped her off and got her home safely instead of accusing me of having an affair with her." And with that, he left shaking his head. The nerve of this guy, he thought he did a good thing by dropping the red-head off, but obviously not in her boyfriend's eyes.

* * *

"I saw your boyfriend today," Matt said to Lita he saw her enter the room.

"He's not my boyfriend," she said for the billionth time in the last week. She was so sick and tired of all of this.

"Oh really? Then how do you know who I was talking about?"

"Maybe because that's all you have been talking about for the past week. Just do me a favor and shut the hell up."

"Someone's mouthy today."

"Someone's a bitch today. Oh wait, nope," she said shaking her head, "That's not just today. That's everyday right?" Lita said not even regretting it all. Maybe if she actually stood up for herself and didn't let him talk to her in anyway he wanted, then he could get annoyed of her and just let her leave knowing that he couldn't just walk all over her. Unfortunately for her, she was wrong as he walked up to her and slapped her across the face.

"Don't talk to me like that again you stupid whore!"

"And how about you don't talk to me like that you jack ass!" She was not about to back down.

He smirked. "Looks like the slut is growing a pair. You know that just makes me more angry?"

"Get the hell away from me," she said backing up when she saw Matt getting closer to her.

She was surprised when he did just that, backing away from her and then he left with a smug look on his face. She wasn't only surprised, she was very confused and a bit scared that he may have something planned for later.

* * *

"You sure you're okay?" Dawn asked as she was talking to Lita on the phone later that night. "You sound very... I don't know... troubled. What happened?"

"Yes. I'm okay. Nothing happened," she replied. She looked at the clock and realized Matt would probably be home soon so she had to get off the phone. "Look, I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Okay. Bye." She hung up the phone without waiting for Dawn to say anything.

The brunette was confused by the whole conversation she had with her friend. She walked into the living room and saw John was there just hanging around watching some game with her husband. She sat down on a nearby armchair.

Edge noticed something was wrong when he said something to her but she didn't reply because she wasn't paying attention. "What's wrong?"

"What?" She said looking up at him.

"I was saying something and you weren't paying attention. Something wrong?"

"I don't know," she finally said after a while. "I think something is wrong with Li. I was just talking to her and she just... she sounded like something was bothering her." She looked up at John who was now paying attention to the conversation. "I think you were right. Something is definitely going on with her." John then decided to tell her what happened with Matt that day, how he was accusing John of having an affair with his girl-friend. "So it's probably trouble with Matt?"

"Maybe," John said.

"Then it's probably nothing. Couples go through things."

"But you just said that she sounded like something was wrong with her. You just don't want there to be anything wrong which is probably why you're not accepting there's a possibility that maybe her problem with Matt isn't just a random thing couples go through."

"I can hope can't I?"

"Well," Edge spoke up, "if you think something is wrong with her, shouldn't you talk to her? She's your best-friend. You can't just stop around and hope nothing's wrong even if you have the tiniest bit of suspicion."

"I know." Dawn agreed. She just didn't know how she would start the conversation with her friend. She knew she was stubborn and wouldn't listen to anything anyone had to say if she didn't want too. But she was just as stubborn, or even more, so that wasn't going to stop her. She just didn't want her friend to shut her out. She knew Lita changed a lot ever since she moved in with Matt some months ago. She came around less often, she even quit her job as a second grade teacher. She didn't even go to see her family as often as she did before which she thought was really weird because she always made sure to visit them whenever she could. Even if she didn't have time, she would make the time. Maybe something was wrong with him or maybe there wasn't and she was wrong. If she said something to Lita about Matt and if she was wrong, she knew her friend would be angry with her. She just had to take a chance.

* * *

Lita was hiding in the bathroom, currently curled up on the floor, from her so called boyfriend. He scared her. She was afraid to be alone with him especially since he backed away earlier that night when it looked like he was about to do something. The look on his face scared her, she thought he was planning something and she didn't want to take any chances so she found solace in the bathroom. That was where she slept every night, or at least tried to, even though there were two other rooms in the house. She just didn't feel safe in any of the those rooms. Plus, there were bad memories in those two rooms as well.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a loud banging on the door which made her jerk and sit up leaning against the tub. "Open the door bitch!" She stayed quiet hoping and praying he wouldn't find his way into the bathroom. "I know you're in there so don't even pretend! Open the door!" He waited another couple of minutes for her to budge, but she didn't. "I'm giving you five seconds. Open the door or I'll open it myself." She started panicking, the tears streaming down her face. She was so scared, he never tried this before. He never did anything to her when she was in there. She should have saw it coming, she kind of did but she didn't know he would actually try to barge his way into there. She just thought he would wait for her to leave the next morning.

She heard a banging on the door like he was trying to break down the door, her five seconds were up. She hurried up to her feet and looked towards the tub seeing there was a window around there. She got up trying to look at it and see if she had any time to go and see if there was a way she could go down that window. She cursed herself when she realized they were on the second floor. She heard more pounding and banging on the door and decided she didn't care as long as she got away from him. She would end up hurting herself, probably breaking a couple of bones. At least she could make it out the house and he wouldn't do anything to her, people would hear and come outside to see what the commotion was. She tried to boost herself up the window after she opened the window and threw the screen off.

She was so involved in trying to escape that she didn't hear the bathroom door open. She didn't realize Matt finally got into the room until it was too late. She felt a tugging at the bottom of one of her legs and let out a scream, trying to kick him away but he proved to be stronger than her at the moment. "You thought you could get away with the way you talked to me?! Not tonight. You really want me to kill you?" He pulled her from her legs and pushed her on the floor causing her to wince in pain.

"Go ahead Matt!" She said finding the courage to speak up against him for the second time that day. "Go ahead and kill me! That's what you're doing right now anyways! If you just kill me now would be better than the pain you cause me everyday! So just do it!"

There was a evil dark smirk on his face which scared her. Maybe he would just kill her now and get it over with. She was ready for that, it would be better than the pain he caused her everyday like she just told him. "Then who would I have fun with?"

"I would hardly call you physically and verbally abusing me as well as forcing yourself on me fun!" She spat back, surprising herself with the spine she suddenly grew that day.

"Well, it's fun for me."

"It's a crime! You're a damn cop! You should know that yourself!"

He simply shrugged. "I should, shouldn't I? Well, that sucks for you. All this talk about fun, how about we have some now." He started going towards her. Her eyes widened as she tried to move away from him but she was still in pain from when he pushed her on the floor hard and the multiple other times he hit her. Her head still hurt like hell from the time he banged her head against the wall a couple of times that day. She was a bit surprised she didn't pass out. He grabbed her leg once again and punched her in the face. "You should really make this easier on yourself.

She tried to hit at him and back him away from her, but she couldn't do it. He weakened her and he was too strong for her. "Get off of me!"

"Shut up!" He said as he ripped her clothes off of her. She didn't say anything else knowing it would probably make it worse. But what could be more worse than what was going on right now? She wished he would just kill her instead.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews. Thanks for your preferences of who you rather be Lita's sibling. All three who actually had a preference chose Jeff which was my first choice. Yay.**


	4. Chapter 3

Lita woke up the next day still on the bathroom floor, she was relieved Matt just left her there and didn't drag her in the room with him. She immediately grabbed her head due to a pounding pain. She slowly got up and headed towards the sink to wash her face. She saw a blueish purpleish bruise on the right side of her head which formed when he banged her head against the wall twice early the day before. _Add that to the list, _she touched it lightly and it started hurting even more. She didn't know what to do, he never gave her a bruise she couldn't cover up with clothing. How was she supposed to cover up a bruise on her head? _Makeup, _she thought as she looked in the cabinet in the bathroom and removed the makeup she used to cover up the other bruises even though they would get covered up by clothes. She couldn't always wear long sleeve shirts, that would be suspicious especially with a nosy friend like Dawn. She hoped it would work on her head as well. The bruises on her arms were smaller than this bruise on her head. It really hurt touching her head even a little bit, it wasn't like she was going to go anywhere so she thought it wasn't necessary to cover it up for the moment. She was about to leave the bathroom until she heard her phone vibrate. She looked over at it and saw it was Dawn calling so she picked up instead of ignoring it like she wanted too. Dawn wouldn't stop calling until she actually picked up.

"Hi Dawn," she answered trying to sound as calm as possible, too bad Dawn knew her well and could tell what she was doing.

"What's wrong?" Dawn asked concerned. "You sound the same as you did last night. Don't lie to me."

"Nothing's wrong," Lita lied. "Just feeling a bit tired." _...of my life. _She had to bite her lip from preventing the last part to be said out loud.

"I don't believe you."

Lita rolled her eyes. "I'm okay with that. What's up? Did you need something?"

"Yes. Let's go shopping."

"No thank you."

"Then let's just hang out?" Dawn suggested. She wanted to see her friend so she could talk to her about what she talked to John and Edge about last night. She wanted to make sure Lita was okay, but with the way the red-head sounded, the brunette didn't think that she was okay.

"Um, I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I told you I'm tired and I don't feel good." She decided to add the fact that she didn't feel good because then maybe Dawn would just leave her alone.

"Li-"

"Dawn, I have to go. Talk to you later. Bye," she said quickly when she heard movement around the house. Matt was most likely awake too. He wouldn't like to see her talking on the phone. She really hated it. She hated how she was still scared of him even though she stood up for herself the day before. And boy did she pay for it.

"Ouch," Matt said as he saw Lita's head. "What happened there? Oh, I remember. Maybe you'll stop talking back now?"

_Not likely. _"I'm not in the mood right now. Just leave me alone." She then walked away with Matt just letting her go without giving her a hard time.

* * *

Lita heard the doorbell ring an hour later, Matt was still home and she didn't cover up her bruise yet so she just let him answer it. She didn't know nor care who it could be. She just hoped whoever it was would take Matt with them. She heard him call her so she entered the living room not thinking about the fact that her bruise on the head was visible. She just thought who was at the door had already left, but she found out she was wrong freezing in her place when she saw who it was.

"Li, what happened?" Dawn asked concerned as she walked over to her friend.

Lita looked over at Matt who gave her a look that basically told her if she said the wrong thing she would so have to deal with the consequences later. "I fell, hit my head against the banister."

Dawn looked at her and could tell she was lying but wasn't going to say anything in front of Matt. "Are you okay?"

She shrugged. "Yea. You know I'm a klutz, I'm used to it."

"You need to be more careful babe," Matt said which made Lita want to walk over to him and beat the crap out of him. She just nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Lita asked her friend trying not to sound like she wanted to get rid of her or she was hiding something.

Dawn could sense the tension between the two even though they were trying to hide it, she was even more intrigued now than ever to know what was up with her friend. "I told you I wanted to go shopping."

"I don't want to."

"Then let's just hang out."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I already told you I don't want too."

"You should," Matt spoke up before Dawn could say anything else.

Lita fought the urge to roll her eyes. She knew he was only acting nice in front of Dawn. He would probably get angry and pissed off at her when Dawn left because she decided to show up. It wasn't Lita's fault her friend decided to show up but Matt would still be angry with her for that. She was about to say no again but then she saw the look on Matt's face yet again telling her not decline and just go. She thought she would just go because if she still declined, it could look suspicious. "Okay. You win," she said looking at Dawn.

"Perfect," Dawn smiled then turned her attention to Matt. "I'll return her back in a couple of hours."

_Please don't, _Lita thought. "Dawn you can go to the car, I just need to grab something and I'll be there in like a minute." Dawn nodded and did as Lita suggested. Lita then walked away from Matt going upstairs where she left her phone and purse. Matt decided to follow her.

"Don't do anything stupid. You better not be going to see your boyfriend."

"Then why did you tell me to go when I told her I didn't want to?" She glared at him.

"Don't talk back to me. You better not tell her anything. And you better come back home on time. I don't have work tonight, I'll be home to make sure you're here on time, so I'll know when you come. And with who."

She just ignored him and left. She didn't want to go anywhere with Dawn but she didn't want to be with Matt either. She just wanted to be left alone.

* * *

Lita told Dawn she really didn't want to shop and she didn't want to go anywhere, she just wanted to relax. Her head was still hurting as was the rest of her body, which was a usual thing for her. Dawn decided it would be better if she took her to her own house, it would be easier to talk to her about what she wanted to talk about instead of somewhere out in the open. She just didn't know how she would talk to her friend, she was looking for the best time which apparently, was now.

"How's your head?" Dawn asked looking at her friend.

"Fine, just hurts a bit. But, fine."

"You need to stop being such a klutz."

"Yea, I know."

"And a liar."

Lita turned her attention away from the movie they were watching at the moment to her friend. "What am I lying about?"

Dawn decided to turn the movie off. "About how you hurt your head. Don't lie to me. You didn't fall and hit your head against the banister. Tell me what happened."

"I already did," Lita said rolling her eyes.

"No you didn't. Something is going on with you and you're hiding it. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You really have changed. You're so reserved now. You don't hang out with me much anymore. We don't even talk much. You don't want to be around people much. It's like you're hiding in a shell. Why did you quit your job? You used to love it." Lita wasn't answering her, some of the things she just said to her was similar to what John said to her the night of Dawn's party. Did he get inside her head? Why couldn't he just mind his own business? "It's Matt isn't it?"

Lita looked at her friend trying to hide her shock. It seemed like Dawn was getting closer to figuring out the truth. "What?"

"See, that look on your face just confirmed there is something going on with you and him. You may be able to fool others but you really can't fool me. Have you forgotten that I know you?" The red-head got up from where she was sitting, trying to head towards the door. "Stop ignoring me. Get back here, we're going to have this discussion."

"No we're not, I'm going home."

"Li, please," she said getting up and following the red-head.

She stopped in place to turn around to face her friend. "Leave me alone!"

"Why are you acting this way? Just tell me what's wrong."

"Please leave me alone," she whispered walking back and then sitting back down on the couch, she just couldn't stand up anymore. She felt weak, not only physically but emotionally and mentally as well.

Dawn saw how sad she looked sitting down beside her, "Tell me what's wrong. I want to help."

Lita shook her head. "You can't."

"It is Matt right? What has he been doing to you?" She realized Lita wasn't going to speak up anytime soon. "John was here last night and he told me how he ran into Matt at work yesterday. Matt accused him of having an affair with you."

"That's none of his business to tell you that but yes, he thinks I'm cheating on him with John because he dropped me off home that night," Lita finally admitted a little bit of the truth even though Dawn already knew that so maybe she didn't admit to anything.

"So he decides to hit you?"

"I didn't say he hits me," she lied which Dawn didn't believe.

"You have to get away from him."

"No I don't!" Lita blew up at her, standing up once again trying to leave.

"Why won't you tell me anything?" Dawn asked following suit.

"Because it's none of your business! Stop being so nosy all the time!" She said glaring at Dawn.

"It's not me being nosy! It's me caring about you and trying to have a conversation which you don't want!"

"Yea, I don't want it so don't ask me again!"

"What's going on?" Edge asked as he entered the house. "Why are you two yelli... Oh, wow. Lita, what happened to your head?"

She subconsciously touched her head and winced at her own actions. She forgot to cover up her bruise before she left with Dawn. "I fell and hit my head against the banister."

"Stop lying." Dawn spoke up from across her.

"Shut up! Just leave me alone!" She was about to leave but Dawn grabbed her and wouldn't let her go. She tried to get out of Dawn's hold but Dawn had a strong grip on her.

"Li, I just want to help."

"You can't." Lita finally calmed down whispering looking at the ground.

"Why not?" Her voice also coming back low, she finally let go of the red-headed woman. They weren't yelling and screaming anymore.

Lita sighed still looking at the ground. "Just please leave it. Let me go."

"No. I'm worried about you. I really don't believe you hit your head against the banister."

Lita was fed up. Fed up with Matt for doing this to her, fed up with herself for putting up with it, and fed up with Dawn for caring. She finally looked back up at the brunette and exploded. "He controls me and I let him! I have to ask him for permission to come see you and anyone else! I can't see my family when I want to because he doesn't let me! Why do you think I make up a stupid excuses when you want to see me?! He makes me stay home all the time! He... he'll start hitting me when I do something he doesn't like." Her voice was starting to get weak just as she already was, she was now whispering and avoiding eye contact once again. "He hits me. He beats me at least once a week. My bruises don't even heal fully and he beats me again. And... and that's not even the worst."

"Wha... what else does he do?" Dawn asked even though she had a feeling what it was.

"You don't want to know." That confirmed the brunette's suspicions, she didn't say anything else about that.

"You can't go back." Her eyes were starting to well up with tears, seeing her friend like this and just hearing everything she admitted made her want to cry for her friend. She was not expecting this at all, she didn't know what she was expecting but it wasn't this.

Lita shook her head. "I have to."

"Why?" Dawn asked. Edge stayed quiet for the most part, he was shocked at her revelation as well but felt like he was intruding since he did come in the middle of the argument.

"I can't leave him."

"Why not?" The red-head didn't answer. "Let me help you."

"No. You can't."

"I want to."

"I won't let you."

"Why not?"

"Dawn, please just leave it. Just forget I even told you anything."

"How do you expect me to do that? You're like my sister. I have known you for a very long time and I can't believe you're going through this. I can't believe I didn't even suspect much until the other day. You won't even let me help you. I haven't seen you this miserable and defeated ever. I want to help you."

Lita finally looked back up at her friend, her own eyes welling up with tears. "He'll hurt you. He told me he would hurt whoever I told or figured out and whoever tried to help. I won't let that happen. Just please forget everything you heard."

"Did you tell the police?" She asked ignoring Lita's pleas.

"They're not going to do anything. He's one of them. It's like a brotherhood. A sick and twisted brotherhood. They'll look into it and if they don't find anything after one measly little look, they'll just leave it. I already tried once and trust me, he didn't appreciate it. At all." She remembered that day perfectly. He threatened to kill her if she did something like that again and to prove that he would, he showed her a gun and said he would shoot her with the same exact one. "I have to go. Please just let me go."

"I can't do that."

"I can't let him hurt you."

"He won't."

"He will. If he hurts me and claims to love me, he will be sure to hurt you. I won't let that happen."

"She's right," Edge finally decided to speak up, "You can't go back to him. You can stay here."

Lita shook her head. "Why can't you understand? I can't do that. He'll find me here and he'll hurt not only me, but you two as well."

"I'm sure I can handle him."

"Not if he has a weapon. I can handle it. I'm... I'm going to leave him. I am. I really am. I just don't know how or when. I just need to figure that out. I just need to do something that won't make him come after anyone."

"Then let us help you," Dawn urged once again.

"You can't. I won't let him hurt you. I have to do this on my own. I don't want to talk about this anymore. Just forget about it."

Dawn was about to say something else until she saw the look Edge gave her which basically told her not to say anything else for now. They would think of something. "So you're going to go back." That was more of a statement than a question.

Lita nodded. "I have too, but I will get out."

"I hope so."

"Me too."

* * *

Dawn and Edge were on their way back from dropping Lita back off at her house. "How could we just let her go back?" Dawn asked her husband.

"We can't help her if she doesn't want our help," he answered.

She looked at him in shock and confusion. "What?"

He didn't miss her look since he glanced over at her for a second, taking his eyes of the road for a quick moment. "I don't mean we're not going to help her. We have to think about what we're going to do before we do it. From what we heard, Matt's a psycho who will do anything to keep her from people and from anyone finding out. We have to be careful. He could kill her if he finds out we know."

Dawn nodded. "Yea, you're right. But I really didn't want to leave her with him."

"I know. Let's just hope he doesn't do anything else to her soon before we can do something."

"Maybe she'll stay with John when she gets out if she won't stay with us. I mean, I know he'll help. She won't go to her parents house either. I know it."

"He will but I doubt she would agree to it. She really isn't the type to ask for help from people she knows well so I really don't think she'll accept his help."

"She has too. I know she won't go to her family and I don't want her to be on her own."

"Don't worry, we'll think of something."

"I hope so."

* * *

Lita had been home for about half an hour and Matt had already yelled at her at two different occasions because Dawn decided to show up. He wanted to know everything she did and talked to Dawn about. She told him the truth but conveniently left out the part where she slipped and told Dawn the truth about him. She couldn't believe it herself that she told Dawn. She just couldn't help it anymore and exploded and blew out the truth. She hated the fact that Dawn and Edge knew because she knew they were going to try to help her out but she didn't want their help. Once Matt found out they knew, he was going to go after them which she didn't want. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she let anything happen to them. That's when she finally decided what she was going to do to get away from Matt once and for all without anyone else having to pay for her actions. She just had to find the perfect timing to do it. She knew Matt was going out of town for some police conference in a couple of days, she would just take action then because she didn't know how much longer she could take of Matt's behavior towards her. She just hoped that would end all of it once and for all.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews. Special thanks to therealchamps, my time is now, jennie, xHalesMariex, and alliewash17.**

**I realized Edge would have made a better evil person than Matt as I wrote this chapter. He was my second option, but I have read way too many stories where he's the villain and John plays savior. And then many stories where Matt's the villain and Edge plays savior. Ugh, whatever. This is different. I promise.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Warning: The end of the chapter is going to get a little dark. Don't skip to it, I know how tempting that can be.**

* * *

"Good Morning Lita!" Dawn said a little bit to cheerful for her friend who just entered the kitchen.

"Tone down the cheery," Lita groaned. "It's too early for that."

Dawn frowned. "Hmmm. I see you're not a morning person."

_You wouldn't be either if you had to deal with Matt on a daily basis._ "I need coffee."

"I'll make you a cup."

Lita snorted. "A cup isn't enough. I'll do it myself."

"No, that's okay. You look... You okay?" Dawn asked concerned.

"Perfect," Lita said sarcastically sitting down at the table waiting for Dawn to make the coffee. "I really don't know why you were persistent on me staying here. I was fine staying with myself. I could have went to see my parents if I wanted to be around people." Matt was out of town for some conference for work, or so he said. She honestly didn't care where he was, she was relieved to get away from him, even if it was only for three days. He knew where she was, it's not like he could control her when he wasn't there so he didn't care much. He didn't think she would do anything stupid because she knew what she would have to deal with if she tried to pull something over him. He always thought threats worked for him.

"So we could spend time together! Duh!"

_Sure, that's all there is to it._ "We could have done that if I stayed at that house too. You do realize that?"

Dawn shrugged. "Sleepover!"

Lita rolled her eyes. "I wasn't aware we were in high school. I'm sure your husband is happy to get rid of me tomorrow."

Dawn frowned handing Lita a cup of coffee and sitting down across from her with her own cup. "Shut up. He doesn't care."

"Yea, I don't. It's good to have another person Dawn can bug," Edge said as he entered the kitchen helping himself to a cup of coffee as well. Dawn responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

"I'm so happy I could be at service," Lita said sarcastically.

Dawn feigned hurt. "You two are very rude. You are lucky to have met me and to have me in your lives."

Lita rolled her eyes. "Oh God. You two are perfect for one another. Both of you think highly of yourself."

"You know you'd be sad if we weren't in your lives Li." The red-head simply shrugged. "Are you okay?" The brunette asked once again. She felt like she asked her friend that about a billion times the past two days.

Lita sighed looking down at the cup of coffee in her hands. She was getting sick and tired of this question. "Yes."

"Don't lie."

She looked back up at Dawn. "I'm away from that asshole for three days. That's three days of abuse free. Trust me when I say this, I'm fine."

"We'll get you away from him soon."

"No!" Lita exclaimed getting up from her chair at the table. "I don't want you to get involved."

"At least let me h-" Edge started to say before he was interrupted.

"No," Lita said once again glancing at the two. "I don't want either of you to get involved. He's dangerous. Trust me, I know. So stop it. I know what to do."

"If you-"

"Shut up Dawn! Just, please let me deal with this on my own. This is my problem! Not yours. I know you want to help, but I don't want you to. He could hurt you really badly. I would never be able to forgive myself for that. Just stay out of it." She then left the took before the brunette woman or blonde man could say anything else.

"How are we supposed to help her if she doesn't want it?" Dawn asked her husband seriously. She so desperately wanted to get her friend out of that situation with Matt. "This is the best way for us to get her to leave him. He's not here. He won't know where she went. We could hide her out somewhere. Obviously not here because this would be the first place he would think of."

"I know you want to help her, so do I. But we can't force her, we have to be careful." Dawn nodded in agreement. She just hoped they were able to get Lita out of this situation with Matt before it was too late.

* * *

John rang the doorbell to Edge and Dawn's house. He was going home after a shift at the firehouse. Dawn had called him not too long ago asking him to come over because her and Edge had to talk about something. She wouldn't tell him what it was over the phone, but he could sense it was something serious based on the tone of her voice.

"Hi," Dawn answered the door. He immediately knew something was definitely wrong because she looked really upset.

"Hey. What's wrong? You don't look too happy."

"Come inside and I'll tell you." He followed her to the living room where Edge was sitting on the couch.

"Okay, what's wrong? You both look like someone died."

"That could happened soon," Dawn muttered under her breath.

Edge frowned while John was confused. "Don't say that," Edge said.

"But it's true."

"What are you two talking about?" John asked as he took a seat at the armchair while Dawn sat next to Edge on the couch.

"Lita," Dawn answered. "We need your help."

John nodded. "Okay, what happened?"

"You were right. There is something going on with her. I was stupid to ignore it and think it was nothing." She paused for a bit before she continued. "Matt... She... He..."

"It's okay," Edge said as he tried to comfort his wife who was now on the verge of tears. "I'll tell him." She simply nodded. "We probably shouldn't be telling you this, but we do need your help. Basically, she was over here last week, she's actually here now too, but she's taking a nap. Anyways, I walked in on her and Dawn arguing. She admitted to Matt controlling her. She said she has to ask him permission for anything and everything she wants to do. She has to ask him for permission to see her own family." He took a deep breath before he continued. He was just about to get to the worst part. "He hits her when she does something he doesn't like." He conveniently left out the worst part, that would be personal, he already didn't feel like they needed to tell John about Lita's life, but he knew they could use his help. He also knew this was bringing back some bad memories for John himself, which is why he knew John would help as much as he could no matter what.

"That bastard." He wasn't close to the red-head like the other two were, but he was angry. How could someone abuse someone else? Especially a man abusing a woman. He would never understand. "So what can I do? What have you two planned? I want to help."

"This is the best way for us to get her to leave him," Dawn finally spoke again. "He's not here. He won't know where she went. We could hide her out somewhere, but not here because this would be the first place he would think of." She hoped John would agree with what she would say next. "I was thinking maybe she could stay with you for a bit? He wouldn't think to look there. I mean, maybe he will because he thinks she's having an affair with you, but he doesn't know where you live. That would be safe for her."

"Okay," John immediately agreed. "She can stay with me. But, what if she doesn't trust me?"

Dawn looked confused. "What do you mean? You won't do anything."

"You're right, but she won't think that. A poor excuse of a man has been abusing her for months. That must have her a bit terrified from men, especially the ones she doesn't know too well."

"Yea, but we can still try. If not, we'll think of something else."

"Okay," he nodded. "You're right, he doesn't know where I live and he won't be able to find me unless he stalks me. But maybe we could have her hide out at a motel for a couple of weeks before she stays at my apartment. Like you said, he could think she's staying with me and try to find out where I live, he'll probably leave me alone much sooner than he'll leave you alone when he thinks she doesn't stay with me."

"Yea, that sounds good. We just have to try to convince her she can trust you," Dawn took a brief moment before she continued, she didn't know how John would respond. "Maybe if she knows about-" She was interrupted before she could continue even further.

"No it doesn't!" Lita said as she made her way into the living room. She was hiding behind the wall of the entrance listening to them until she decided to make her presence known when she had enough. "I told you I don't want your help! It's safer that way!" Lita glared at the married couple. "It was none of your business to tell him anything! We're not even friends!"

"Li, please just think about it."

"No Dawn! I don't need any of you to get involved! You can't." Her voice started to weaken. "He'll seriously hurt you. I don't want that."

"You can't do this yourself," John said.

"Why do you care?" Lita asked looking at John. "You don't even know me. I would hardly call us friends."

"You're right. We're not friends, but we were friends once upon a time. And it doesn't matter, no one deserves to go through anything you're going through."

"And none of you deserve what's going to happen if he finds out you know. None of you deserve what he's going to do if you try to help me. I'm going to get out myself. I know how." She knew she had to take action soon since three people knew the truth and all three of them seemed determined to help her. She didn't want any of them to get hurt or killed because they helped her. She knew how evil and malicious Matt could be, he wouldn't hesitate to kill either of them. She wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to either of them, even John even though she didn't think of him as a friend.

"Li-"

"No Dawn. Please stop. I know what to do. Just, stop."

The other three didn't say anything. Dawn didn't want Lita to push her away because it would be even mote difficult to help her friend if she did that. She just hoped her friend would stop being stubborn and just except their help. She was still planning on helping Lita even if she didn't want it. She just had to try to convince the red-head to accept her help.

* * *

Lita was in the bathroom later that night getting ready for bed. She was tired, she wanted to sleep, she wanted to forget about everything. She could tell Dawn was acting careful whenever she talked with her after that little meeting she walked in on with Dawn, Edge, and John. She was pissed off at her friends that they told someone else. She didn't want their help, why couldn't they just understand?

She just wanted to sleep to forget about everything, but she knew that wasn't going to make her feel better. She just wanted it all to end. She didn't like what she saw in the mirror. That bruise on her forehead was still visible and probably would be for another few weeks before it completely disappeared. It would just remind her about how she let another human control her life. Even when that bruise would vanish, she would have other bruises to remind her of her stupidity of letting someone control her life. She thought how her life was hell. _Hell is probably better than my life_, she thought as she continued staring at her reflection. She hated it, she hated the woman that she was looking at. This wasn't her. She used to be happy, she used to love her life, now she just hated it. She started to clench her fists at her side, getting really pissed off at herself. She couldn't stop thinking about how she allowed herself to be controlled. She couldn't stop thinking about how she allowed herself to be abused physically, emotionally, and mentally. She couldn't stop thinking about how she did this to herself, she ruined her life on her own. She didn't realize it until now, but the tears were pouring down her face as she was thinking about how much she really hated what her life had become.

She hated what she saw, so she raised her balled up right fist and slammed it into the mirror as hard as she could, wincing a bit at the pain she felt as the mirror shattered into pieces and dug into her skin. She decided to repeat her actions once again, then another time letting out a yelp.

"Did you hear that?" Dawn asked Edge from the living room. The duo was watching a movie, they invited Lita to join them too, but she claimed she was tired. "It sounded like glass fell or something."

"No, you're probably hearing things. Or maybe it's coming from outside."

"Maybe," Dawn said, then returning her attention back to the movie. She didn't know how much she was going to regret that decision later.

Back upstairs in the bathroom, Lita took one of the shards of glass that didn't fall out of the mirror and stared at how sharp it looked. She knew what she wanted to do with that, she was thinking about it for a week now, probably in a different way but this looked like a chance to stop this situation with Mat forever. Three people already knew, these three people wanted to help her but she didn't want them to get involved. Ending this forever would protect those she loved the most. She knew she wouldn't be able to leave Matt without him wanting revenge on those around her, so maybe if she ended it the way she wanted to, he couldn't blame anyone and go after them. It's not like she had anything to live for anymore in her mind.

She decided to fill up the bathtub with warm water before she took the next steps. After the tub was filled with warm water, she took the sharp piece of glass and made a cut across her right wrist, she tried to ignore the pain. She made another cut on the same wrist trying to ignore the blood as well as the pain. She repeated her actions on her other wrist feeling a bit woozy soon after. _Maybe this will be quick, _she thought as she got into the tub still fully clothed. Maybe she could have done without the water in the bathtub and just run water on her wrists under the sink, but she was hoping she could drown after she passed out. She was hoping for that, the faster this was over, the better. She shut her eyes as she waited for this to finally end.

"I'm going to check on Li," Dawn said after twenty minutes. "She said she would be back down for a bit before she went to sleep."

Edge nodded. "Okay."

Dawn got up from the couch and went upstairs to check up on the red-head. She saw a light coming from the bathroom so she thought Lita would be in there. She knocked on the door a couple of times for a few minutes, there was no answer. She called out to Lita, but still, there was no answer. She didn't think the door would be unlocked, but she still tried it. Much to her surprise and relief, the door wasn't locked. She entered the bathroom and screamed when she saw was in front of her. She fell to the ground with tears pouring down her face as she couldn't take it anymore.

"Dawn, what's wrong?" Edge asked when he arrived to the bathroom. He hurried up the stairs after he heard his wife scream. He followed Dawn's vision to the red-head in the bathtub. "What did she do?" He whispered. He knew he had to do something, he just hoped it wouldn't be too late.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews.**


	6. Chapter 5

"Matt?"

"Shannon?" Matt answered the phone.

"Yea, Shannon here," he answered from the other end of the phone. "I was outside of their house like you asked. There was an ambulance there not to long ago-"

"At their house?" Matt interrupted.

He nodded even though Matt couldn't see. "Yea."

"Why? Did anyone go in it the ambulance? Was it Lita?"

"I don't know. It's dark, I couldn't tell, but it was either her or Dawn, it wasn't Edge."

"How are you sure about that?"

Shannon rolled his eyes. "Because I could see when he got into the car and drove away, but wasn't able to see anything that was going on around the ambulance even though I could tell someone was on a stretcher and then put into the ambulance."

"And you couldn't see who went with Edge?"

"No, whichever one isn't hurt went to the hospital with the other in the ambulance.."

"Find out what's going on," Matt demanded.

"Okay, I followed Edge's car to the hospital, they're at Atlanta Medical Center. I'll try."

"Not try! Find out and call me when you know something. I'm coming tomorrow. Find out who it is."

"Okay, yea I will. Bye." Little did Lita know, Matt got one of his co-workers, who followed him around like a little puppy, to stakeout of Edge and Dawn's house to spy on Lita and inform him of everything he found out. He gave Shannon pictures of Edge and Dawn as well as John because he just knew John would be around that house as well. He found pictures of Edge and Dawn in one of Lita's photo albums. He got a picture of John when he followed him around. Shannon didn't know nor did he question why Matt needed him to stalk on Lita for him, he just wanted Matt to like him so he did whatever he was asked of. Shannon had already told Matt about John's earlier visit to the house which made him angry. There was a reason why he didn't want her to stay with Dawn, but he knew he couldn't stop her when he wasn't there, but that didn't mean he couldn't have someone watch over her and inform him of what she was doing and who she was with. She was in for a surprise when he got back, but so was he.

* * *

"What the hell was she thinking?" Dawn asked as she paced around the hospital waiting area impatiently waiting for a doctor to tell her and Edge of Lita's condition after her suicide attempt. She continued by answering her question herself, "She clearly wasn't thinking at all. How the hell could she be so stupid and selfish? Did she really think this was the best thing to do because of that asshole? She tried to take the easy way out even though we had a good enough plan to help her." The brunette finally stopped pacing and looked over at Edge with worry in her eyes. "He's going to find out about this. He's... He's not going to let her get away with this." And then she became angry again. "I can't believe she would do this! Ugh!" Dawn groaned in frustration as she finally took a seat next to her husband.

Edge was responsible for taking the red-head out of the bathtub once he registered what was going on. He took towels and wrapped them around her wrists that she cut to try to slow down the bleeding. He called for an ambulance which thankfully didn't take too long to get to them and take Lita to the hospital. Two hours later, the married couple was still awaiting on word of how their friend was doing.

"What if... What if she succeeded? What if she's actually dead? What if she went into a coma or something because of how much blood she lost? I should have went upstairs to check on the noise when I suspected it was coming from inside the house. This my fault." Dawn started getting teary eyed again. She rested her head on Edge's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.

"It's not your fault. She's going through a tough time. She thought this was the best way for her to get away. We'll help her. Don't worry. Hopefully she'll come to a realization that we can help her."

"We have to get John to tell her the truth because then she'll trust him not to do anything to her. I mean, I know she'll still be reluctant, but it could possibly change her mind." She looked up at Edge with pleading eyes. "Please. Convince John. I know he'll help us help her, he said he would. If she knows the truth, then she could stop being stubborn and stop trying to handle this on her own. She's not going to stay with us and she won't go to her family, so it seems like he's the best option."

Edge nodded. "I'll talk to him. But don't bombard her with anything. I'm sure she's okay, the EMTs said we got to her at a good time even thought it probably had been a like fifteen or twenty minutes. Don't attack her with questions and please don't call her stupid and selfish. She needs assistance, she doesn't need to feel worse than she already does." Dawn nodded in agreement, she knew she couldn't let her emotions get the best of her when she was allowed to see her friend. She just hoped a doctor would be able to tell them how she was doing sometime soon. She was getting anxious and scared, what if the red-head didn't make it?

"She can't go back to Matt. He won't care that she tried this. She'll just try it again, we can't let her go back to him." She thought odds were that Lita would possibly attempt suicide again if she made it and if she went back to Matt when she was released from the hospital. "Do we tell her parents and Jeff?"

Edge thought about it for a while and then shook his head. "No. That's up to her. It doesn't seem like a good idea, what if we tell them and she gets pissed off at us? She won't except our help. We have to be careful with her, but try not to be too careful, she'll figure it out and blow up on us. You know how she can be." Dawn nodded. She thought that made a bit sense, she didn't want Lita to be angry with them which could cause her to still refuse their help. She was starting to get restless waiting for a doctor to tell her what was going on.

Fortunately for her, a pair of doctors who looked like they were in their late thirties or early forties made their way to the duo. "Are you two the ones who are here with Ms. Dumas?" They duo nodded. "I'm Dr. Yang. I have been working on Ms. Dumas. This is Dr. Edwards," she said referring to the woman next to her, "She is the assigned psychiatrist at this hospital for patients such as Ms. Dumas. What's your relation to the patient?"

"I'm her sister," Dawn lied. She knew Dr. Yang wouldn't tell them anything if they weren't her family given the circumstances even though they were the ones who came with her.

"Okay. Well, she's going to be okay, physically. She lost a lot of blood, she's lucky she didn't have any organ failure. Her heart was about to fail on her, but we were able to prevent that. We gave her a blood transfusion, which she is still receiving."

"She'll be staying in the hospital for a minimum of 72 hours," Dr. Edwards spoke up for the first time since her and Dr. Yang approached the married couple. "In that time, she will need to talk to me. I will evaluate her and determine if she is still a harm to herself or possibly others, then I would recommend for her to stay at a psychiatric ward for a longer amount of time for her to get some help, but I can't force her, that would have to be voluntary." She took a second to glance between Edge and Dawn. "We take this situation very seriously, so if there is anything you think you need to tell either of us, please don't hesitate."

Dawn nodded. "Thanks. But she will be fine, right?" She asked.

"Physically, yes. Mentally and emotionally, hopefully we will get there. That's the goal. Any questions?"

"Can we see her?" Dawn was eager to see for herself that Lita was fine even though the doctors said she was.

"Yes," Dr. Yang answered. "She did gain consciousness for a brief moment and she lost it again, but she should be fine. If she is to gain consciousness while you are with her, refrain from saying or doing anything that will upset her. Any more questions?" The duo shook their head. They were relieved to hear she was fine. "Alright, then follow me this way," Dr. Yang said leading the way to Lita's room while Dr. Edwards headed elsewhere.

* * *

Edge stepped out of the hospital for a bit after he and Dawn entered Lita's hospital room, who was still unconscious in that moment. He wanted to make the call to John before she woke up. He didn't want to put a burden on his friend, but he couldn't think of another way. Matt would know to look for Lita at his place if she were to stay with him and Dawn. He thought if he told John about what happened, then John would tell be able to convince Lita about accepting his help, after all, he kind of went through with this already.

"It's one in the morning," John answered the phone groggily. "I have to be at the fire house in a few hours. This better be good."

Edge winced, he forgot about the time and the fact John did have work in the morning. "Oh, sorry. I didn't even realize the time. Um... just forget. This is kind of wait. Sort of."

"I'm awake now," John said sitting up in bed, he could sense there was something important Edge wanted to talk about. "What's up?"

Edge shivered while he was walking outside around the hospital, it was the middle of the night in mid-November after all, so it was freezing. He let out a sigh. "You're still up for helping us with Lita, right?" He wanted to make sure John was still up for it before he told his friend about what happened a few hours earlier.

"Duh. Why? What's going on?"

Edge took a deep breath before he proceeded to tell John about what happened a few hours earlier. "So, I know this is hard for you. But you have to tell her about what happened with your mom, if she knows your mom went through the same thing, she won't be scared of you and will possibly accept your help."

"Okay," John agreed. "Well, hopefully she will accept our help. I... wow. I... She... She really does need help. She shouldn't go back to him when she's released from the hospital."

Edge nodded as he continued to walk outside around the hospital. "Yea, we don't want her to. Hopefully, we can get her out of here ourselves without Matt finding something out. Damn it," Edge said when he realized something. "He's coming back tomorrow, he's going to find out and he's going to take her with him. This is going to be tough, but we have to do it. Hopefully we'll think of something." Edge took a brief moment before he finished. "I'll talk to you later. I'm sorry once again. I probably should have just called you tomorrow."

"Just make sure Dawn doesn't let her emotions get the best of her and say something that Lita probably shouldn't hear right now."

"Yea, I know. I already told her to try and not let that happen."

"Okay. Bye. I'll talk to you later." And with that, both of them hung up the phone, with Edge going back to Lita's hospital room and John lying back down in bed. He didn't think he would get anymore sleep that night, bad memories were flooding back to him.

* * *

Lita slowly opened her eyes, she didn't feel so good. She was confused as to where she was and started to look around to register where she was. She looked down at herself when she felt a tugging at her arms, she saw she was hooked up to different IVs. She then saw her wrists taped up as well as her fists, then she remembered what she tried to doing a few hours earlier. _Damn it, _she thought. She was hoping it would be the end, but it wasn't.

"Oh my God," Dawn started to say when she looked up from her magazine from across the room and saw Lita was finally conscious. "You're awake." She started to head toward the hospital bed Lita was in.

"What did you do?" Lita whispered to her.

"Excuse me?" Dawn was shocked.

"You should have let me died," her voice was still quiet, she was feeling weak. "Obviously I wanted that. Why didn't you just let me die?" Dawn couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her eyes started to get teary for what seemed like the billionth time the past few hours. She didn't know what to say without fearing she was going to say something wrong and just make Lita angry. "I hate you. This was the way to get out. And you ruined it."

"Life's not supposed to be easy," Edge said as he reentered the room. "We will get you out." Lita didn't say anything. She didn't want to fight or ague. She was sick and tired of this. She was sick and tired of her life. She wanted it to end, but that obviously wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She hated this.

* * *

"What did you find out?" Matt answered the phone after Shannon called him back.

"You aren't going to believe it. She cut herself. She tried to kill herself."'

_That whore. Does she really think that would be the end? _"Are you sure?"

"Yea, I talked to her doctor after I saw her lead Edge and Dawn into Lita's room. I pretended I was her brother. She told me what happened." Dr. Yang did question why he wasn't with Dawn and Edge when she told the duo about Lita's condition. He lied and said he just received the call and came to see what was going on.

"Where are you now?"

"In the hospital waiting area," he lied. He went back home. He was tired of following her around and trying to find out about what she was doing. She was in the hospital, what could possibly happen there? He wasn't missing anything.

"Alright, stay there just in case." He wanted to make sure no one found out about what he was doing with and to Lita.

Shannon just rolled his eyes. He wasn't going back to the hospital. He was going to sleep and go back tomorrow before Matt got back. "Okay. Bye."

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews.**

**That would have been totally lame if I killed her b/c that would be the end... unless she came back as a ghost... not gonna happen. There's still a long way to go before the end.**

******Shannon as in Shannon Moore fyi. Yea, all I remember about him is his name and he was a MF'er or whatever that was.**


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